The NHL trade deadline is February 28th at 1PM Edmonton time. Last year there were over 30 trades on Deadline Day and another 20 or so leading up to it. Why talk about it this soon? Two reasons: the Oilers should be very involved and the Oilers did quite well at the last deadline. Can Steve Tambellini do it again?

This is Troy Hesketh. The Oilers selected him in the 3rd round (71st overall) in the 2009 draft. He may be the first of Stu (Magnificent Bastard) MacGregor's picks in the top 100 to be considered a draft bust. There's trending downward, and then there's stepping into an elevator shaft.

Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau and Dan Boyle are a combined cap hit of $28.07 million for the Sharks, and they are a combined -40. Marleau is an ugly -17, while Thorton sits at -12, Boyle at -10, while Heatley is the oddball at -1. The Sharks have lost five straight, they've been shutout three times in their past nine games, and they are currently sitting in 11th place in the Western conference. They won't have their leading goal scorer, Logan Couture, tonight due to a deep bruise from a collision with the Leafs' Colton Orr on Tuesday, and with only ten wins in 22 home games the Oilers might have a fighting chance tonight.

This is Ryan Whitney. Despite injury, he is in fact the Oilers first-half MVP. The Oilers have copious hope hidden under a cloud of win-loss misery. The mid-season report card offers us wonderful clues about the future. Some are staying, others not so much.